On May 19-20th SIRO (Society of Italian researcher in Ontario) official Chapter of the Italian Scientists and Scholars of North America Foundation (ISSNAF) will host in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa the inaugural Canadian Annual ISSNAF meeting.
The event is organized under the auspices of H.E. Ambassador Claudio Taffuri, Consul General of Italy in Toronto, Giuseppe Pastorelli, and Director of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Toronto, Alessandro Ruggera and Scientific Attache' of the Italian Embassy in Ottawa, Anna Galluccio. This year's exciting conference will focus on innovation, exploring innovation as invention and transformation and its impact on how we live and think.
During the event, the italian scientific community meets the institutions, the industry, academia to discuss breakthrough ideas, to network, and to award projects of young Italians through the ISSNAF Young Investigators Awards.
After an introduction by H.E. Ambassador of Italy, Claudio Taffuri, and other representatives of italian institutions, the event will open with two prominent speakers: Paolo Maccario, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager at Silfab Solar Inc. and Franco Vaccarino, President and Vice-Chancellor of Guelph University, who will discuss current and future strategies in academia and industry required for students and workers to deal with the disruptive technologies and the exponential increase in knowledge.
The later part of the day will feature speakers from different institutions from all over Canada. Corrado Paina, President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, will address the importance of innovation and research from the industry prospective. Umberto Berardi, Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ryerson University, will bring his experience as winner of the Franco Strazzabosco Award for Engineers. Nicola Fameli, Research Associate of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, U. of British Columbia and Franco Mammarella, Group leader Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics, president and vice-president of ARPICO (Society of Italian Researchers & Professionals in Western Canada), who will explain the importance of developing a global network amongst researchers. The day will be closed by Gabriella Gobbi, Associate Professor, Dept. Psychiatry, McGill University on the current status of the Italian Scientific Community in Quebec.
Day One of ISSNAF's Annual event will conclude with a reception at the Istituto. Day two of the event is dedicated to young Italian researchers and scientists who will present their work and will receive the ISSNAF Certificate for Young Investigators. The day will end with a round table and a discussion directed by the ISSNAF Ontario chapter Chairs, Barbara Cifra, Vito Mennella and Leonardo Salmena on how to build a successful academic network and how ISSNAF can contribute to the process.
For this year the event will be attended by 60 selected researchers and scholars working in Canada.
For more information email issnafontario@gmail.com
